The Following: Eleonora Carroll
by anchors and arrows
Summary: Eleonora had taken every precaution she could possibly think in order to keep her past a secret. But when Joe Carroll escapes, and she's forced to relive the horror that she's been avoiding, her fears are about to become reality.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Pilot

A young woman walked into her apartment building, fiddling with her purse to find her keys as she spoke with her friend on the phone between her shoulder and her ear.

"I swear John, I'm fine." She laughed. "I just walked into the building, I'm just pissed off at myself for not bringing a smaller bag, make it easier to find my damn keys." She found them, making a gleeful noise. "No, I'll call you tomorrow." She rounded the stairwell, leading to her apartment.

Outside her door, she saw two men waiting there for her. One was dressed in a suit, the other in police blues. "Hey, John, stay on the line a second." She whispered into her phone before approaching them. Her friend agreed, and she walked down the hallway.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" She tried to sound unthreatened. Truth be told, her hear was in her stomach, and her mind was turning. Did something happen to her brother? Her mom? What the hell could have happened?

"Ms. Matthews?" The gentleman in the suit asked. She nodded, still unsure as to where in the world this conversation could go. "My name is Detective Sloan with the Virginia State Police Department." He explained as she neared closer to her door. He exposed her badge to her, and she was able to tell that this gentleman was telling the truth. She lifted the phone to her ear, and told John that she was okay and hung up before continuing the conversation.

"What can I do for you?" She asked trying to push her intensely dark brown hair out of her face and stay calm.

"It's about your father." The detective said with stress evident in his voice. "He's escaped from prison."

"That's impossible." She nearly laughed looking between the detective and the officer. "He's in a maximum security prison. How in the world could he get out?"

"You know how vicious he could be. He killed four guards, and it seems as though he impersonated another to leave." Sloan scratched his head, irritated with how the woman was not even remotely concerned about the situation. "He's gone, Eleonora. He's out in the open."

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Eleonora opened the door to her apartment, and let the officers in. "Has Ryan Hardy been notified?" She asked turning on the lights, and tossing her coat and bag on the table next to the front door.

"They're trying to reach him now."

"And Claire and Joey?"

"We have officers with them in Richmond." Sloan looked around just to make sure the area was secure. "We would like to bring you there, make sure you're all safe."

Eleonora nodded, and her dog came running out of her bedroom to greet her. She pet the dog's head, and her stress levels began to soar.

"I… Um, I have to pack a bag." She said and the detective stopped her. She nodded, knowing that he was going to want to check her room, just in case someone was in the apartment. He returned a moment later, and gave her the go ahead to pack a bag. She dashed inside, and pulled her phone out of her pocket again.

"Claire?!" She asked genuinely surprised that her step mother was even awake.

"Nora! Oh, thank God you're okay."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm with a detective now. How are you? Is Joey okay?" She began to stuff clothes into the duffel bag recklessly.

"We're fine. We have people in the house. Joey's asleep, and we're all okay." Both women sighed in relief at the revel that they were both safe.

"Do you mind if I come join you?"

"Of course you can!" Claire responded nearly shocked that she would think that coming home would be a bad idea.

"I just don't want to cause too much trouble."

"It's not you that's the trouble. I want you home."

"Thanks mom." The young girl smiled, looking at her bag, assuming that it was well packed. "Um, what about Cy?" She remembered that her dog was somewhere in the apartment, most likely staring down the unknown men.

"Bring him. Joy will love to see him."

"I'm sure he will." She smiled, despite the situation. Her family was back together, even in the roughest of times. "I'll see you when I get there."

"Be careful Nora."

"Be safe." They hung up, and the detective and the officer helped her and Cyclops, her dog, into their vehicle. She texted her boss and her friends to let them know that she was going home for a family emergency. She emailed some of her professors to alert them of her whereabouts and why she was not going to be in class the next day.

She was almost finished with her training, and some of her professors had known who she was, but for the most part, she kept her past as dark of a secret as she could make it. Even her closest friends didn't know exactly who she was. She didn't want the cliché of having a serial killer for a father, fuel her ambition to work with the FBI to follow her through her entire career. Eleonora Matthews was born Eleonora Carroll. She is twenty four years old, and nearing her graduation from Quantico. She is Joe Carroll's oldest daughter, and she has been trying to get past the years where she found out that her father was the serial killer who killed his students.

Eleonora tried to wait patiently until she got back to Richmond, but her constant foot twitching, she could tell was irritating her escorts. Cyclops laid his head into her lap, knowing that she was nervous, and she pet his head thankfully, just hoping that the entire ordeal would blow over quickly.

It was nearing five am when they approached the Matthew's residence. She was exhausted, and ready to sleep, but also ready to see her mom and brother. She hopped out of the car, and Cyclops followed her loyally as the officer got her bag for her. She thanked him as they were let into the house by Marshall's standing guard at the house.

Eleonora found Claire sleeping on the couch, waiting for her to arrive. She approached her and gently shook her awake.

"Mom." She tried to sound sweetly for her. Claire jumped and panicked until she realized that Eleonora was sitting in front of her. "Sorry."

"No, that's okay." Claire said hugging the young woman in front of her. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Nowhere else I'd rather be." She tried to make this reunion light. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay." Claire sighed, and brought her hand through Eleonora's hair. "How are you?"

"Exhausted." She sighed as they settled into the couch, relaxing that they were all together, all safe. "Have you heard from Ryan?"

Claire shook her head, but pulled Eleonora up off the couch by her hand. She brought her to her room, and she sat, waiting as Claire dug a document out of her closet. Eleonora found it odd to be back in her previous home. She lived with Claire briefly before she went to college, and returned when she was on break, but never spend more than a few weeks at the house at one time. She always felt like she was infringing on Claire's space. After all, she wasn't actually her daughter, just a burden on Claire, and a constant reminder that her husband was a murderer. Why would she want her around longer than she needed?

"I got a letter from Joe a few weeks ago." Claire said bringing it to Eleonora who was sitting on her bed. "He knows what happened between me and Ryan." Eleonora took the letter and read it.

"How the hell does he know this?" She questioned in fear. He had been on the inside of a prison ward for eight years. Ryan and Claire's affair was nearly nine years old.

"I'm not sure." Claire bit her fingernail. "You haven't gone to see him, have you?"

"Of course not!" She explained shocked that she would even think of that possibility. "I only saw him the once. I never went back."

"I just…" Claire sighed relieved. "I just needed to hear you say that." Eleonora nodded, and squeezed her step mother's hand.

"I'm sorry this is happening."

"It is not your fault." She squeezed her hand with just as much care. "But I'd bet that you're exhausted."

"Terribly exhausted." Eleonora laughed lightly and she hugged Claire good night, before getting her bag from the kitchen and heading to her guest room. She changed, had Cyclops in his crate, and found sleep only a while later.

_Eleonora was in a college classroom, listening to the explanation that Poe's work centered on the idea that death is equated with beauty. The professor was writing on the board, and he explained _

_ "The death of a beautiful woman, is the most beautiful experience ever." He turned to see her, and she tried to scream. The man dressed in a two piece suit was her father, instead of chalk in his hand, it was a knife, and he smiled menacingly at her. _

_ "Eleonora, you should know by now. This is the way this has to be." He told her, and drove the knife into her stomach. _

Eleonora woke with a jolt, and heard Cy rumble on the floor next to her, concerned about his owner's well-being. She sighed, realizing that she was safe in her step mom's house. Rolling out of bed, she dressed casually in jeans and a cardigan, preparing herself for human interaction.

"ELE!" She heard Joey screaming as he ran down the hallway at the sight of her. She smiled at the sight of her little brother, and knelt to let him tackle her. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?!" He was so excited to see her and she laughed as he wiggled out of her grasp.

"I got here last night, very very late at night."

"Are you here because of dad?" Surprised at Joey's question, she looked to Denise, Joey's nanny, whom Eleonora has known for nearly two years.

"I wasn't entirely sure what to say." Eleonora smiled sweetly at the woman and nodded to Joey.

"Yeah. I'm here because of dad."

"Will you be here for a while?"

"Yeah, I'll be here until we figure out what is going on."

"Are you going back to Virginia after?"

"I have to. But, I promise, that when this is all over, you can come over and we'll make a weekend out do."

"Really?!" Joey was so excited to hear that he would get to see his sister for an extended period of time.

"Pinky swear."

"Ms. Matthews?" A suited Marshall asked as he approached the group.

"Yes?" She asked standing and Joey stood at her side.

"Detective Connor would like to ask you a few questions." Eleonora nodded and turned back to Joey.

"Denise is going to tell me if you've been being good, and maybe later we could go for ice cream if the men say its okay."

"He's always good." Denise smiled at her.

"Thank you." Eleonora smiled at Denise, and she followed the Marshall to the living room where Claire was patiently trying to evade the questions. Eleonora knew that Claire was going to wait for Ryan to get there, so she knew that she could be a little more cooperative with the detectives. She was introduced to another detective, and she already knew that she was not going to get all of their names right.

"When was the last time you had spoken to your father?" A female detective asked her patiently. Eleonora poured them a round of coffees and they sat at the coffee bar.

"I last spoke to Joe when I went to visit him seven years ago."

"You haven't written or called?"

"Not once." She sighed spinning the stirrer in her coffee. "I didn't have the desire to contact him only because of what he had done."

"May I ask why?"

"He was killing women only a few years older than I was at the time. It scared me to think that I might have possibly been one of the targets."

"But now, you're going to be an FBI agent?"

"Yes. I graduate in a few weeks."

"Is he aware?"

"Well, I haven't told him." She shrugged. "Have you gotten his visitor log yet?"

"No, we haven't. But there are agents at the facility right now talking to visitors about their experience with him." Eleonora nodded and sipped at her coffee again.

"Have you spoken to anyone recently, who may have hinted that they were speaking with him?"

"No. I have done a very good job at consealing the fact that he is my father. I honestly wouldn't know if they had spoken to him." The detective asked a few more questions and she went and joined Claire in her room. Together, they waited until later that afternoon when Ryan came to the house.

"Are you going to be okay?" Eleonora asked Claire once they found out that he was coming.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Eleonora looked at her with concern, and Claire took a deep breath. "It's been eight years Ele. I couldn't dwell on that for the rest of my life."

"I know. But I just want to make sure you're okay."

"Ele." She warned with a laugh. Ryan entered the kitchen a moment later, and seeing the two women together again was almost surreal to him.

"Mr. Hardy." Eleonora smiled seeing him.

"How many years did we go through this?" He tried to joke with the young woman. "It's Ryan."

"Old habit's die hard." She shrugged. And he nodded at her.

"Ms. Matthews, we have some questions for you two." The second agent behind Ryan asked. Eleonora and Claire made eye contact with each other, and Eleonora nodded to her, knowing that she would take Ms. Abrasive.

"I'd like to speak with Ryan alone." Claire explained and the agent was about to object and Eleonora steped up to the plate.

"What is your name?" She asked the detective, blocking the entrance way.

"Agent Jennifer Mason. And you are?"

"Eleonora Matthews." She held her hand out to the agent. The agent, realizing her mistake, she shook the woman's hand and they walked away as Ryan and Claire exited to speak in another room.

Eleonora gave Mason the same answers that she gave the other detective. She wasn't exsactly happy to be dealing with this particular agent, but there wasn't much she could do to get rid of her. She was finally finished and they sat in the kitchen as Denise cooked something for Joey. Eleonora poured him a glass of juice and noticed that he was staring at Agent Mason. She sighed annoyed as she all but ran out of the kitchen. All three family members looked to each other and shared a quiet giggle as they assumed that she was not very good with people, let alone children.

Ryan left soon after, and the house grew quiet once more. Joey and Denise went to play with Cyclops, as Claire went to work on some of her lecture things, and Eleonora began to work on some paperwork that she would need to finish up. It was late when Claire was coming back upstairs after speaking with some detectives, and was going to say good night to Joey.

"JOEY?!" She shouted and Eleonora ran out of her bedroom, looking into Joey's room. The bed was made, and untouched. Joey was gone. "JOEY? HONEY, WHERE ARE YOU?" Claire screamed running through the house.

"DENISE?!" Eleonora screamed, running to the girls room. She burst through the door, and saw that her room was untouched as well. "Fuck." She cried chasing Claire downstairs as she heard her screaming for her son and his nanny.

"They're both gone!" Eleonora cried as they met in the kitchen.

"WHERE'S MY SON?!" Claire cried as Eleonora pulled Claire into her grip and they fell to the floor. Eleonora tried to process what as going on as Claire was screaming in her arms and every agent was running through the house, trying to find Joey.

Joe Carroll was out in the open, Joey was missing, and Eleonora had no idea what was going on anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone. I'd just like to thank the people how have commented so far, and let me know they've been enjoying it. Please continue reading and reviewing! **

Chapter 2: Chapter 2.

Eleonora sat with Claire in the living room as they watched the news; Claire crying with fear for her son, and Eleonora, in an emotional shock. As Scott gave the press conference that Joey was missing, they were a bit relieved that Joe had been recaptured.

Earlier, the detectives at the house had informed the Matthews that Joe had been captured by Ryan, and that Sarah Fuller, Joe's last victim, had been murdered. Of course, Eleonora knew that her heart had sunk. Sarah was the light of someone's life. She was someone's daughter, friend, sister, and now Eleonora's father had taken that away from them. She was a positive outlook from the entire experience. Sarah had become a doctor and successfully moved on with her life; and now that life was over. Eleonora had been informed that Ryan and the rest of the FBI team were on their way to meet with them, and when she told Claire, she broke down.

"Claire, you know that if anyone can find Joey, its Ryan." Eleonora tried to encourage some positivity in her step mom.

"I know. It's just that he's been kidnapped." Claire stated for the hundredth time in an hour. Eleonora understood the fear that Claire was experiencing, and had to except that no matter how much optimism she tried to push onto her, Claire's mood about the situation was not going to change. She was also processing the fact that Denise must have taken him, therefore, she was more likely to take care of him, not hurt him.

"Have you ever met any of her friends? Family?"

"Elle, I know that you're going to be one of these agents, but I am NOT comfortable with you questioning me like a victim." Claire muttered angrily, facing the young woman next to her. Eleonora saw that she was having a rough night. She hasn't even slept yet, and she was still shaking with shock. Eleonora nodded, squeezing her hand.

"I just thought maybe you'd rather talk to me than a suit." Claire nodded, understanding where she was coming from, and softened her gaze. "If you'd rather talk to Ryan, it's okay."

"I'm sorry." She murmured softly.

Eleonora nodded whispering, "Don't worry about it." With a soft smile. The girls heard the door open, and Claire jumped. Immediately, Claire walked to Ryan and hugged him. Eleonora stood at the couch, awkwardly watching the reunion. She made eye contact with Ryan, then with a younger agent who walked in behind him. He was wearing a leather jacket, jeans, and was carrying a computer bag. The agent nearly stopped in his tracks, taking in his sight quickly, and Eleonora gave a side smile, wondering why he was nearly frozen. A taller gentleman gave the young agent a shoulder push to keep him walking, and they found their way through the house to find a spot to work in. Eleonora stepped up to Ryan and Claire just as they were pulling away.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked Ryan, knowing that he probably went through hell in the last few hours.

Ryan nodded and Eleonora politely squeezed his arm encouragingly. "Coffee?" She offered, and Ryan nodded, his lips going into a thin, stressed line. Eleonora wandered into the kitchen and found the two other agents swabbing the counter Denise and Joey were eating on before.

"You guys want some coffee?" She offered as she began to make a pot on the opposite counter.

"Please." The taller, dark agent answered smoothly. She made the pot and turned around to see that they were running the test. The tall agent turned to her and approached her.

"Agent Troy Riley." He held his hand out to her. She nodded, placing her hand in his.

"Eleonora Matthews." She said with a smile. Her father taught her from a young age to introduce herself with a warm smile, direct eye contact and a soft voice. However, the volume depended heavily upon the situation. When introducing herself to his coworkers, it was to be soft and delicate. If announcing herself, it was to be filled with power, annunciation, and with a direct purpose. A name was important, but the way a person says their name spokes volumes to the nature of the person.

She saw the younger detective's posture straighten. "Agent Mike Weston." He also shook her hand with a warm smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." She looked between the detectives. The coffee maker beeped, and she turned to get the mugs from the cupboard and poured a round of coffees. She pulled the milk and sugars out, placing them on the opposite counter. "Please feel free to help yourselves." She politely smiled at the agents before going to find Ryan.

"Pleasure to meet you Ms. Matthews." She heard Agent Riley mock.

"Really?" Agent Weston rolled his eyes.

"You're such a fan boy." Riley joked and immediately Eleonora knew why. _He read Ryan's book._ Ryan had interviewed her for his book when he was writing it nearly eight years ago. She provided an example of Joe's life before the murdering began, and how it had changed her family's life. Claire didn't want to be a part of the writing process, but Eleonora thought that Ryan deserved a Matthews's perspective. After all, Joe did try to kill him. She was nearly seventeen when she volunteered to be interviewed by Ryan.

_ They had just finished their interview session, and Ryan hit the stop button on his recorder. Eleonora looked up to him as he continued to write something in his notes. She had known that he and Claire had been having an affair together, and she was actually in favor of the situation. However, regardless of her approval of the relationship, she knew that they had broken it off recently. _

_ "How are you doing, Mr. Hardy?" She asked sipping her water. _

_ "I'm good, thanks for asking." He tried to be polite. _

_ "Really?" She asked in disbelief. He shot her a questioning look, and put the notes into his lap. _

_ "I'm fine, Elle." He said trying to sound stern. His eyes were sad, and his body was wearing down. He wasn't adjusting to the pace maker well, but even from her seat, Eleonora could smell the vodka in his system. She shook her head. _

_ "Mr. Hardy, I've seen you at fine, exuberant, angry and sad. You currently are anything but. I know I'm only a seventeen year old girl, and probably the last person you'd want to talk to, but you can tell me that you're not okay if you'd like to." Her eyes nervous to say this, but she consciously knew that it needed to be in the open. Ryan held her gaze, and sighed sadly. He was after all talking to his ex-lover's step daughter, and his near murder/ suspect's daughter. The mix of titles confused him, but realized that it must be twice as more confusing to her. _

_ "I'm not fine, but I am okay." He resorted for an answer. _

_ "Why haven't you spoken to Claire in a while?" _

_ "Did she have you ask that?" _

_ "I'm asking for myself." She clarified. "She hasn't been as happy as she was while being with you, and I thought that you both deserved to be happy after what you'd gone through." _

_ "I was happy with her," _

_ "Then why are you not together?" _

_ "Because I'm part of her past." _

_ "Don't you think I am too?" _

_ "You're seventeen years old." _

_ "And you're still in love with her." She pointed out. "I am feeling the same way, Mr. Hardy. I feel like I belong in her past, I shouldn't be still living with her, let alone in contact with her. I was there before Joe started killing in the first place. What I think she deserves, is for me to be gone, and to start a new life with you." _

_ "Elle, you're seventeen years old. You're too young to be on your own." _

_ "Joe did it. You essentially did it." _

_ "We had different circumstances." _

_ "My biological mother died giving birth to me. My father is in prison, due to the fact that he is a self-indulged murderous, sad excuse of an author. Claire is being as polite as she could, volunteering to take care of me, but she doesn't deserve to look at my face for the rest of her life. Be constantly reminded of the worst, most terrifying time in her life. You may think that if she sees your face constantly as a reminder, it will bring back bad memories, but just imagine what she must feel like looking at me EVERY SINGLE DAY until I turn eighteen." Eleonora didn't raise her voice, but Ryan could detect the sadness in her voice. Ryan noted that the girl sitting in front of him, for the first time, he noticed that she had tears in her eyes. "I am his daughter." She hissed in disgust at herself. "I am his blood, if there is anyone who would bring back worse memories, it would be me." _

She found Ryan in Claire's room, and Claire was pacing. She handed the coffee to Ryan who smiled lightly his thanks.

"I don't understand how Denise is involved in this. I mean, are they going to hurt Joey?" Claire admitted as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Do you think she's involved with Joe somehow?" Eleonora asked Ryan as they all moved about the room restlessly. He took a deep breath and prepared himself to answer her question.

"I think that she is your nanny because of Joe." Eleonora stopped pacing, and Ryan continued. "I think he put her here-."

"That's impossible." Claire injected. "She's been Joey's nanny for two years. She lives with me, I know her."

"The accomplices," Ryan stepped towards her. "The guys that helped him kill Sarah Fuller, were there for years. Pretended that they were gay to get close. They used false identities."

"I did a background check. I have records." Claire whipped away a stray tear.

"Can I see them?" Ryan asked. Claire nodded and she walked to her linen closet in the hallway, leaving Ryan and Eleonora in the room. There was a knock on the door, and Agent Weston popped in, standing in the door frame as Ryan looked at the picture of Denise and Joey.

"There are heavy doses of Zolpafam on the counters. She must have drugged him."

"And the guards I'm guessing." Eleonora shrugged.

"Took him down the back stair well, they found the car about forty five minutes away from here." Ryan nodded and walked out of the room where Claire walked out of her closet with a file in hand. Eleonora and Weston were left in the room, waiting for Ryan's next move.

"Denise Harris, from Alexandria." She explained handing the file over. "She talked about her mom a lot. I guess they were close. No dad in the picture."

"You ever meet any of her friends? Over hear phone conversations?"

"No. She was shy. Read in her room a lot." Claire pushed her hair back. "I can't be this blind, could I be?"

"You cannot afford to think like that, do you understand?" Ryan stated softly. Claire shook her head unwillingly, but accepted that Ryan was going to do everything in his power to bring back her son.

The day progressed and Eleonora studied the faces of the men that took advantage of Sarah Fuller, and dug through Denise's room. It was only a few hours later that Claire came into the room and pulled her attention away.

"They want us down to the center, see if we could get anything out of Joe."

Eleonora nodded and dressed, preparing to go face to face with her father.

As they entered the facility, the Matthews women were met by Ryan and Agent Parker. Ryan looked even less pleased, but he was present.

"Agent Parker." Eleonora smiled seeing her advisor.

"Eleonora," Debra said a bit surprised. "I didn't realize that you were _the _Eleonora Matthews." She shook the young girls hand and they walked through the doors.

"Well, up until now, I hid it very well." Eleonora attempted a reasonable smile.

"I would like to speak with Eleonora. Ryan, prep Claire for the interview?" Parker asked before heading down the other hallway.

"How does Parker know Elle?" Ryan asked Claire quietly. Claire shrugged.

"I'm assuming from Quantico."

"Quantico?"

"She's about to become an agent."

"I thought she was going to be a lawyer."

"After the trial, do you really think she wanted to do that?" Claire asked as she wrung her hands together nervously. Ryan nodded understanding that what her father reportedly had done to his lawyer, be it a rumor or fact, was terrifying. He sent someone to cut off her finger, and that was enough to make Eleonora drop the pursuit of practicing law.

"Elle, I didn't know that this was your family, I'm so sorry for everything that's happening." Parker said as they walked down the hallway to her office.

"Thank you, but honestly, I just want to help."

"Would you be okay to go into the field early?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you have the training of an agent, the knowledge of your family and of Joe's personality. I think you could be a real asset to the investigation."

"Would that be okay with the bureau?"

"I'll make it okay with the bureau." Parker said definitively and rounded her office chair, taking a seat. She noticed Eleonora standing patiently, and smiled at her. "This isn't my office in Quantico, have a seat." Eleonora took a seat and waited as Parker filled out a few papers.

"Where did Agent Mason go?" She asked remembering the abrasive agent she met the other day with Ryan.

"She was sent back to Quantico." Parker shook her head as she signed a paper. "She let a former agent, Ryan, into a room with an inmate and broke three of his fingers."

"Three?" Eleonora asked surprised.

"That was Ryan's reaction too." She handed Eleonora a clipboard with paper work on it. "Sign on the lines of the first and last page. It's a temporary deputation. I'll be getting you formally sworn in later, but right now, its just a deputy." She noticed someone walking past the door, "Weston!" He back tracked and walked back into the room.

"Parker?"

"Come in for a second." She and Eleonora stood up and Eleonora smiled politely at the Agent. "Raise your right hand." Eleonora did so, and Parker continued. "DO you swear to up hold the law to the fullest extent, blah blah blah?" Eleonora smiled at Parker's inability to care for formalities.

"I swear."

"Your temporary badge, your gun and holster." She said handing her the equipment. "Thanks Mike, you can go." He nodded and left the room congratulating Eleonora. "Also, as long as you're here Elle, would you help keep an eye on Ryan? Just make sure he's doing okay and is sober?"

"I can try." Eleonora shrugged putting the badge around her neck like the other agents in the area. Parker and Eleonora stepped out of the office and made the way to meet Ryan and Claire.

"Hey, you doing okay?" Eleonora asked Claire as they stood together. She nodded her head and reached for the badge hanging beneath Eleonora's breasts. She picked it up reading it silently. "Congratulations Deputy." She tried to smile.

"Thanks. I just want to help."

"Were you going to tell me that you were going into the bureau?" Ryan asked quietly as they made their way to the interrogation center.

"Were you going to tell me that you've been drinking again?" Ryan pulled on her arm to stop her, and Parker and Claire continued their way forward.

"Listen Elle, this is going to be messy."

"I know, Ryan. I just want to help. I'm useless in the house, and I'm restless. I know what I'm doing, and I know you. I want to help, not only find Joey, but make sure that you are okay. You're important too." Elle squeezed his arm, and they continued down the walk way. Eleonora squeezed Claire's hand before they separated, and she went in to meet with Joe first. She followed Parker to the viewing station where they were met by Scott, Riley and eventually Ryan.

Claire looked nervous as she entered the room behind an officer. Joe was surprised to see her, and his attention was brought back into the room. Claire hid her eyes behind her hair, and took a seat in front of Joe, who was shackled to the table.

"My hands are shaking." Joe commented. "My God, you still have that effect on me." He was breathless as he smiled lovingly at her. "You're so beautiful."

"Where's my son, Joe?" Claire stopped him before he could say anything more.

"Our son, Claire." Joe corrected her with clarity in his voice. His facial expression changed, and he stared Claire down.

"Please Joe." She tried to plead with her ex-husband. His face softened and gave a small chuckle.

"Do you remember when we went to Antigua?" Claire didn't respond, but Joe smiled. "We rented that little cabin for a week, and we wound up spending a month?" He laughed. "I don't think we wore clothes the entire time." Claire racked her brain to bring back what Ryan had told her to do.

"He's growing up so fast, Joe." Joe wouldn't phase. "He's so brilliant. He's reading well beyond his years. Melville and Twain. He finished Robins and Caruso last week, but he didn't like it."

"It must be so hard for you. Must feel so betrayed. Again" Claire took a shaky breath, and Parker her cheered her on from the outside. Eleonora saw Claire's lip shake as Joe hardly blinked. "Tell, me. Did you get my letter?"

"Is he in danger?" Claire found her voice again. "Please, just let him be okay? Please don't let him be hurt."

"I'd like some answers to my questions." Joe reverted back to his own agenda. Claire looked at the camera unsure, and Eleonora would have given anything to say _Go for it. Use whatever leverage you have. Use me, use Ryan._ But Claire couldn't actually see her.

"Tell me where Joey is first."

"I asked you some very specific questions." He emphasized his every word, wanting them to mean everything to Claire. "I'd like them to answer them."

"Yes." Claire answered before he could finish his breath.

"Yes?" He egged her on to get the full answer. "You what?"

"Ryan and I had an affair for almost two months." Claire admitted reluctantly. Ryan sat there, heat probably filling his cheeks. Eleonora didn't really feel embarrassment for them. Couples go through stuff like this all the time in front of coworkers. Maybe not to this extent, but at least Eleonora could say that she was with one of them. She placed her hand on his shoulder as she stood behind him. He looked at her quickly and she gave him a quick squeeze before retracting her hand.

"After the trial?" Joe assumed.

"And the divorce." Claire affirmed.

"OF course. Noble Claire. Only a little diddle will do." He taunted her. Now, everyone was feeling the heat. Ryan didn't appreciate having his personal decisions under a microscope, Claire and her post marital life, and Eleonora with her family's sex lives being discussed for the world to hear. However, she was more angered in the fact that Joe would assume something so normal would be so wrong. Claire did everything properly, ethically and at her own pace. It wasn't her fault that Joe decided to do something that put him in prison. "Was he good?" He continued. "Did your body quiver to his every touch?" Claire now growing rage instead of fear, refused to blink, and inched forward.

"Yes. It did." She didn't flinch at the answer, but Joe certainly had. He was not pleased with the answer at all.

"We've got to get her out of there." Ryan said frustrated.

"Not yet." Parker said and Riley prevented Ryan from leaving their viewing area.

"And the last question." Joe asked.

"I don't know." Claire rolled her eyes. She wanted answers of her own, and she was tired of Joe prying her life apart for the world to hear.

"Oh, you know the question."

"I don't know." She announced a bit louder, her rage growing more progressed, and tears were flooding her eyes. "I don't know is my answer. How could I love anyone after you? You destroyed me, you SON OF A BITCH, WHERE IS MY SON?!" She shouted slapping him across the face. They began struggling as Claire shouted at him "WHERE IS JOEY, YOU BASTARD?!" Joe reached and grabbed her neck, squeezing tightly. Ryan ran to the door, and Eleonora watched through the screen in horror.

"I will always love you." Joe told her before Riley and a detective ran in, ripping them apart. Claire was pulled out of the room by Riley, and Joe was eventually released from the officer's grip and Eleonora and Parker saw him revert to his smug, unaccepting expression. He was not happy with the encounter, and he was only growing angrier by the moment.

"Go to her." Eleonora told Ryan, and he nodded at her as he ran to meet her.

Eleonora was left with Parker and Scott, and she took Ryan's empty seat.

"Well, that was a positive experience." Parker tried to lighten the situation. She looked to Eleonora, and sighed, leaning back in her seat. "You sure you want to go in there?"

"I am his child. I mean, I might be able to appeal to his parental instinct." She shrugged. "That is if he doesn't base this visit on my last one."

"When did you last see him?"

"Six years ago." She admitted. "I went to see him and say good bye. I haven't been in contact with him since."

"Well, it's up to you." Eleonora nodded and took a deep breath, thinking of the possibilities that could happen in the interview.

"I'll do it."

Eleonora took a deep breath as she followed Riley down to the holding cell. She heard the footsteps around them echo and whispers be passed between the sparse guards and she couldn't help but wonder now, what the hell would she say to him? He hasn't seen her in six years. She wondered if he would be surprised to see her.

Unlike Claire, she walked in, her head held high and she saw Joe sit back in shock. She walked with her eyes fixed on his, and sat effortlessly in the chair provided for her. He sat with his hands in his lap, his lips in a thin line, and he was quietly watching her. Eleonora sat and smiled at him thinly.

"Hi Joe."

"Eleonora." He said lightly, forcing a smile onto his lips, and he sat forward to see her more properly. "How are you doing?"

"I'm well." She kept her voice level and casual. "How are you doing? I heard that Mr. Hardy is the reason for your ailment." She gestured to his fingers effortlessly.

"I've been better." He studied her closely, and finally smiled at her. "My, you've grown, my little love." Still unfazed by his tone, she crossed her arms and legs comfortably. "What have you been up to? Tell me you've gone and become a teacher."

"Oh, I know you wish." She tucked her dark hair behind her ear. "Actually," She dug her badge out of her pocket and placed it on the table. "I'm about to become an FBI agent. I graduate from Quantico in a matter of weeks, and they've asked me to work the case here." Joe sat in a bout of silence as he was not happy about the career path his daughter had taken. "If you're going to say that you're disappointed in me, you can save it."

"Did you chose this career path because of me?"

"Minuscule. I chose this to help atone for what you had done, and the other major portion was because I was so sick of the Poe shit you taught me while I grew up." She admitted strongly. "I mean, I know he's your idol and all, but come on. It's gotten old, hasn't it?"

"Eleonora." Joe laughed smugly. "I knew you were always destined for greatness. Regardless of what your profession is, you are capable of great things. You always have been."

"So is Joey."

"Have you been in touch with him?"

"Prior to your player taking him, yes. We've been very close. Even through me going to college, and more." They still had not broken eye contact, and Ryan and Parker were both surprised as they watched, anticipating more action. Both were calm, staring intently, and they could feel the tension growing. "He's my baby brother. How could I not be a part of his life?"

"I thought that you might have been more caught up in your studies."

"I was more concerned with forgetting your face. Although it is difficult as we have similar features."

"Always the quickest with a comeback."

"Where's Joey?"

"Do you remember when you first read Thoreau?" Joe asked hoping to relive his daughters past. "You thought he was too close to Emerson and when I told you that he was his mentor, you said that it wasn't fair. He shouldn't have taken his style."

"But he eventually grew with his writing style. I know. Where is my brother?" She asked still sounding sweet.

"How is Ian?" He asked with just as much sweetness. Eleonora felt her face drop.

"How do you know about Ian?"

"I have to say, he was my least favorite of your boyfriends, even of those I saw personally."

"Where is Joey?"

"How long did you let him go after you?"

"Where did Denise take Joey?"

"Why did you stay with him for so long?"

"Where is Joey?"

"You didn't like the way he smacked you around?"

"What, like Claire just did to you?" When he remained quiet, she took the time to study him. Just the way that she said her name was enough to stop him. "You know that I pushed her to be with Ryan, right?" She stood at the table, leaning in front of Joe. "If you're going to blame anyone for her leaving you," She leaned as close to her as she dared, "at first, it was you. For every fucked up thing you did. Then, it was me. I told her to forget about you. I've forgotten about Ian, and I guarantee you, once we get Joey back, I will never even think of you again."

"I did like the way that Ryan wrote about you." Joe smiled back at her. "Brilliant, determined, remorseful for being my daughter."

"What is your bizar obsession with him?"

"He took away what was mine." Joe growled, and he stood to get level with her as well. Eleonora didn't flinch. "You know, the last visit we had, I remember you came and sat down just like you had just now, but you were nowhere near as strong as you were just now. And I could still smell the sadness in your skin. Why accept the position of working on this case, with Ryan, if you hate me so much?"

"Because Joey is my brother. I love him, and unlike you, I will get to see him grow up and never let him think of you again." Their eye contact did not break, and Eleonora sighed. "If you're not going to tell me where Joey is, you're waisting my time. We'll find him ourselves." She walked out of the cell, and headed back to her group.

"You're so calm." Parker told her as they walked back to the main research room.

"Have to be, otherwise I'd have been killed years ago," She sighed as they found seats in front of the monitors that they had just watched interviews on.

"Elle, why don't you go home with Claire?" Ryan suggested, and she opened her mouth to protest, but Parker agreed. Eleonora looked to her to protest, but Parker shrugged.

"We aren't in the process of getting anything solid. Go home. Get some real sleep. You're going to need it. You'll get moving in the morning." Eleonora nodded and headed out, meeting Claire back at the house.

It was early in the evening when Ryan and his team returned to the house. Claire was in the living room, attempting to stay out of the way, and Eleonora was in the kitchen cooking as an agent looked on, making sure that she wasn't putting anything illicit in. As she turned to dish out some food on the island, she saw Agent Weston walk in.

"Hey." She said politely as he set up on the table.

"Hi." He smiled at her as well. "How are you holding up? I saw the interview." He asked quietly, not wanting to draw attention to the severe subject of the conversation.

"I'm fine." She smiled at him. Mike had to take in the one feature that differentiated Eleonora from Joe. Her eyes were a vibrant green, instead of the deep brown her father held. The brightness was still present, regardless of the events of the day. "How have you guys been doing? Anything new?"

"Denise Harris's real name is Emma Hill." Mike admitted.

"Chicken?" She offered.

"Please." He sighed, starving. "We found her house, and we also found her mother buried in the wall."

"Mask of the Red Death, Cask of Amontillado, classic Poe." She sighed fixing Mike a plate. "Do you have photos of the house?"

"It was covered in nine different hand writings of Poe's poems. It wasn't exactly pretty to look at."

"Well, I'd assume not so." She and Weston sat at the table, going over the scene from the house. Eleonora couldn't help but notice that Weston had a boyish charm to him that was unique for a man of his age. Since Ian, Eleonora hasn't had much of a romantic life, only because she was trying to avoid the same situation over again. She caught him looking at her every now and again, and figured that it was just due to the fact that he was expecting the eighteen year old from the book, not the twenty-five year old infront of him. It had been a few hours, and it had grown late. The agents were preparing to leave the Matthews's to sleep, and Weston said goodnight to her.

Eleonora made her way to her room, and realized that she hadn't seen Cyclops at all that day. She assumed that he had been taken care of by the Marshalls during the day. She opened her bedroom door, and smelt something unnatural. She sniffed around, thinking that maybe Cyclops had had an accident inside her room, and found the source of the smell was coming from the closed closet. She held her ground, and opened the door. She was rushed, and pushed to the ground by a man dressed in an officers uniform. He hit her over the head with a gun, and she had blacked out.

Jordy moved outside of Eleonora's bedroom and made his way to Claire's, where he shut the door behind him, and Claire noticed him in the mirror behind her.

Outside, Ryan was running inside the home after realizing that maps inside the Hill home described the Matthews's home. Riley and Weston followed him into the house, Marshalls all surrounding the door Claire was behind. Ryan ran in, without thinking, and a gun shot rang out. He talked his way inside, and Riley stuck his gun in his waistband, and Weston noticed that Eleonora was not in the hallway. Keeping himself alert, he found his way to her room, and opened the door. He saw the slim brunette, knocked out, and her hands taped through the base of her bed. Her mouth was covered with duct tape, and her feet bound as well. He saw the body of a gutted dog in her closet, and rushed to her.

"CAN I GET A MEDIC IN HERE?!" He shouted at the Marshalls outside. He heard movement going down the stairs, but then a series of gunshots. He ripped the tape off of Eleonora's mouth and gently shook her before releasing her wrists. "Eleonora. Hey! Wake up!" He shook her again, checking her pulse. It was still strong, and she stirred after a moment.

"Eleonora." He asked again and she jumped, opening her eyes. She nearly screamed before realizing that it was only her fellow agent.

"Mike," She sighed, and he smiled at her relieved. He untapped her ankles and she held her head tightly, hissing in pain. Once Mike removed the tape, she sat up, preparing to stand. "Where's Claire, Jordy is here."

"He's being taken out of the house." He assured her as she sat back down and held her head. He sat next to her, as they waited for the EMT's to arrive, and he remembered that the dog was in the closet. "Come on, Eleonora. I'll take you downstairs."

"You could call me Elle." She joked. "It's shorter, and less Poe related." Mike nodded, and helped her up off the ground. He walked her downstairs, and she sat on the couch next to Claire, as her step mother fussed over her, realizing that she was also attacked. As Eleonora and Claire were checked over, Ryan and the other detectives went back upstairs to were a second team was taking care of Jordy.

"The storm windows were padlocked." The Police Chief explained as Riley, Weston and Parker looked to her with disappointment, and anger.

"The man had a key." Mike told her, with stress in his voice. "The nanny gave it to him."

"He was dressed as a cop." She tried to defend herself. "He hid under one of the A/C units nobody knew about."

"Except the nanny." Riley chimed in, equally angered. "Who gave it to him."

"Come on. How are we supposed to know that?"

"Its YOUR JOB!" Mike said forcefully, and the chief looked as though she'd stand her ground to the death, but Scott Marshall defused the situation.

"Unless you're a federal officer, I want everybody out of this house now, ya understand? Get out now." Parker had found Ryan sitting with Claire in Joey's room, holding her hand. He excused himself from Claire and came to speak to Parker.

"The prison guard is in surgery now. He's going to be fine." Parker informed Ryan.

"I want to see Joe." Ryan requested, wanting this to be over, just to make Claire feel safe.

"So you could break his other hand?" Parker asked, still seething her anger from the situation that evening. Ryan had walked away, and saw Mike sitting with Eleonora at the kitchen table.

"Thanks for finding me." She said quietly as she held an icepack to her swelling head.

"EMT's say you'll live?"

"Perhaps I'll escape the curse of a permanent goose egg." She tried joking, and succeeded. Mike smiled at the joke and Eleonora noticed that he looked just as tired. "Thanks again, Mike, but go get some sleep."

"You think you'll be okay?"

"House full of Marshalls and FBI? I think I'll be fine unless there's another low-level follower hiding in our vents." She joked lightly. Mike nodded softly, and she squeezed his arm in thanks once more before going to talk to Claire who was in Joey's room.

"How are you doing?" Claire asked Eleonora as she sat on Joey's bed with her.

"I'm fine." Eleonora sighed. "How are you?"

"About as good as to be expected."

"Where's Ryan?"

"He went to talk to Joe." Claire cried, her lip quivering. Eleonora hugged Claire, and Claire began to cry again.

"It's going to be okay." Eleonora tried soothing her.

"Elle, I don't want you hurt, I want Joey back, I want our lives to go back to normal."

"It will. I'll make sure of it."

"I love you Elle."

"I love you too, Mom."

**Hey all, I know this was a long one, and I hope you enjoy it. I'm trying to follow the order, dialogue and style of the show, so that is where all of my references are coming from. Since this is such a long one, and following the show, let me know if you would prefer them broken up in separate chapters, or if you like the long ones. **

**I have finals all this week, so if I'm not updating by the end of the week, it will be by next week when chapter 3 will be up. **

**Please continue reading and reviewing, I love getting your comments and feedback. **

**Thanks again! **


	3. Chapter 3: The Poet's Fire

**Hey everyone, thank you again for your favorites, follows and reviews. It genuinely makes me happy knowing that you're enjoying it. **

**I watch the show, getting the actual dialogue and edit it to my liking. **

**In other words, I own nothing but my OC's. **

**Thank you for your patience in waiting for this chapter. Made it through finals with passing grades Hope ya'll enjoy. **

Chapter 3: The Poet's Fire.

Eleonora wasn't sure if Ryan was still in the house as she got dressed and ready for the day, but she assumed in the fact that she couldn't find Claire that they were not to be disturbed. As she roamed through the kitchen making barrels of coffee for everyone, she saw Ryan come downstairs.

"Good morning." She said as politely as she could. Eleonora was not a morning person to begin with, but if she spoke to you before she had a single cup of coffee, you were lucky. People have made the mistake of trying to engage her in conversation right after waking up, and all they would receive would be a death glare. Ryan nodded at her, and left the house to prepare himself for the day. Elle continued with her routine, showering and dressing in business casual clothes, letting her curly hair go wild for the morning. As she drove into the parking lot of the detention center in Richmond, she saw Ryan pull up at the same time. She swung her bag over her shoulder, sighing at the weight it contained. She had brought any documents that she had kept of Joes' hoping that perhaps it could help. She continued sipping her coffee as she and Ryan fell into step together, both receiving pounding headaches from the night before.

"How are you doing?" Ryan asked her, remembering that now would probably be a safe time to talk to her instead of when he saw her at the house.

"I'm fine." She lied, hoping to forget about the lump that she still felt on her forehead that Jordy gave her last night. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." He agreed, not wanting to actually admit what he was feeling. He had just spent the night at Claire's, in her son's room, keeping watch over her. He wasn't entirely sure where Eleonora slept last night, considering that it was not easy to remove the smell of death from her closet, but he thought that she looked decently rested. As they walked in, they saw Parker studying the pictures that she had hanging on her walls. She felt the eyes on her back, and turned to see Ryan and Eleonora, in similar fashion.

"How'd you sleep?" She asked as they walked in. Both shrugged, and she accepted that as an adequate answer. "Motel the FBI stuck us in has beds like bricks."

Ryan nodded understanding, he would rather have slept in a chair than sleep at the motel. Elle shrugged, not wanting to think of having to sleep in Denise, or Emma's room. It didn't have a floor covered in blood, and didn't smell like a dead dog. She would have preferred a hard bed rather than sleep in that room.

"How many finger prints?" Ryan asked as they all started looking around at the diagrams that Parker had made during the night. It seemed that in the short hours that she was there, she was making the office a very effective map as to who is whom, and what is where.

"Nine in total. Upstairs in the attic, we found six sets. They're the newest, and I'm assuming that that, is where they gathered most." She pointed to the pictures that depicted the attic. "Four sets belong to Jacob, Emma, Paul and Jordy." Eleonora studied the picture closely, seeing the poetry written in marker on the walls.

"The man in the Poe mask, that's five." Ryan added still continuing to look around. "Do you really think this cult is limited to six people?" He pointed to a photo of the house. "We weren't supposed to find their little club house." He let his mind begin to work, "There's gotta be something here that will tell us where Joey Matthews is."

"I've been through every piece of it." Parker admitted. "Nothing says where he is or why they took him, but what I don't understand is what this cult is about." She was getting fired up, Eleonora could tell. Parker was a great cult related teacher, and when she got fired up, it was because this case was getting difficult. "What's Carroll's message? Jones and Manson all used mind control to reinforce family and unity over the individual."

"Didn't Manson convince them to kill for his own selfish means?" Ryan asked still holding his coffee close.

"Yeah, but he dressed it up in several other motives." Eleonora clarified. "He would test his followers, make them kill for him. Brilliant motivator."

"Joe was a teacher." Ryan scratched his eyebrow, remembering how he sat in on some of his lectures. "He was a man of ideas, and he was brilliant at it. He could engage and inspire his students in ways I've never seen before." The phone began to ring, and he faced Eleonora again, who was also clutching her coffee closely.

"He would try to get me to listen to his literature lessons, and give input as to how to get others to listen." She reviled. "I was only able to do it until I reached about ten. As I got older, the more I became interested in other things. I got to the age where I didn't want to hang out with my dad. But I've seen videos of him teaching and read transcripts, and I could easily see how someone my age could get pulled into his words."

"How's your bedside manner?" Parker asked with a bit of pep. Something good happened. "Jordy's awake."

The three of them walked into Jordy's room, finding him awake, alert, and happy. They all thought it was weird, but as the door closed, Ryan smiled at him.

"How ya feelin, Jordy?"

"How am I feeling?" Jordy repeated angrily. "You shot me."

"Yeah, sorry about that." He clearly wasn't. "Tell us where Joey Matthews is."

Jordy smiled, but contained himself. "Oh, is that all? Do you think I'm stupid?" Elle looked to Parker and they both wanted to nod signaling that he was stupid. "I'm not talking." He leaned his head back into the pillow, and tried to ignore the people in his room.

"I think you're looking at the death penalty." Parker pointed out to the officer. He laughed again.

"I'm never going to make it to the chair. I'm a corrections officer. I won't last a week." He looked to Ryan who made his way to Jordy's bed side. "Can I tell you something?" His voice clearly happy. "It was worth it. To kill those girls." His smile grew. "To hold them in my hands as they took their last breaths."

"You know I talked to Joe right?" Jordy's smile fell as Ryan's grew a little.

"He is very upset to find that you were still alive." Elle chimed in.

"Why is she here?" Jordy finally realized that one of his victims was in the room with him. He began to panic.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" She stepped to the opposite side of Ryan. "Why is that?"

"You're… You're…"

"Oh, come on Jordy. You could say it. You weren't this shy last night."

"You're Joe's daughter." He finally spat out.

"Didn't stop you before. Tell me, why did you try to kill Claire, but only knock me out?"

"But he failed at killing Claire." Ryan pointed out. Eleonora nodded and looked back to Jordy.

"That's right. You did fail. Bit pathetic, I'd say."

"I know what you're doing. It's not going to work." He tried to close his eyes again, and began to hum.

"Come on Jordy." Ryan egged him on. Jordy's singing only got louder. "Tell us where-." He's getting frustrated by the officer's singing. Ryan lifted his hand and slammed it into the bullet wound.

"Hey!" Parker yelled at him, and he pulled his hands back as Jordy screamed.

"You can't do that!"

"Sorry, it slipped." Ryan said simply. Elle smiled, walking towards the door, but they stopped. All three of their phones were blowing up. They had to get back to the detention center. Weston had new information, and it was important. Parker sent Eleonora ahead of her and Ryan, once they were in the parking lot.

As Eleonora walked in, Riley stopped her, surprised that she was there.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." She sighed, and leaned against the desk.

"Hey!" Weston said walking in with a smile. "No goose egg I can see."

"It's delicately concealed with makeup." She joked as Riley joined her on the desk.

"It's good to see you're okay." Weston smiled at her as he began to prepare the video that he got wind of, and Parker and Ryan came in, just in time.

The video was of a man, dressed in a Poe mask, like the ones found at Emma's house, and he was reciting The Raven. A group of people stood around, recording him, as he recited the poem accurately, and cheered for him as he threw confetti onto the crowd.

"He's doing this in public?" Ryan asked confused.

"It's the historical district. Live performances like this are done a lot around this time of year." Weston explained. "But the part that concerns us, is coming up." Only a moment later, they saw the same man, dressed in the mask still, dump a liquid on a gentle man, then set him on fire. The masked man walked away, and it was clear that the victim died.

"Who is the victim?" Eleonora asked.

"Stan Fellows." Riley said standing up. "Book critic."

"Yeah, Richmond paper." Ryan realized. "I interviewed him for my book, he wrote a scathing review for The Gothic Sea. One of the worst I read."

"Through this on the crowd," Riley said handing the evidence of confetti over to Eleonora who looked at it. "It's got writing on it."

"Generous critic fan, the poet's fire-." Eleonora didn't read any more. "It's Poe. Surprise." She said dully.

"So, Carroll wants his followers to exact revenge on his critics?" Parker asked, hoping to uncover the meaning behind the cult.

"That could take a while." Ryan deadpanned. Eleonora raised her eyebrow to him, thinking that it could definitely take a while. There were a lot of people to blame for his downfall.

Parker and Eleonora were working together with Riley, trying to decipher the chemical components of the confetti, hoping to find the place where it was purchased, when Mike called them over. He found information.

"Hey guys, security footage from a business owner down the block sent us this." It was footage of a man, putting the mask on outside of the trunk of his car.

"Did you get a license?" Ryan asked, and Weston let out a little laugh.

"Way ahead of you." He pulled up the DMV records, and the license information for a Rick Kester popped up on the screen. "Car is registered to a Rick Kester, twenty-nine. 120 Churchill Road." Parker nodded at him, and they all prepared for going to the house.

It had only taken a few moments to get from the detention center, to the Kester residence, and they had Mike dress in a gas man's uniform, to see if there was anyone home. As he got ready, putting on a cap, Parker, Elle, and Ryan sat in another car.

"Elle, how are you holding up?" Parker asked her.

"I'm okay." She sighed. She was already tired of having people ask her that. She was hit in the head, not fatally attacked. And to be honest, she's been hit harder than that before. "Are you sure it's okay with the bureau for me to be here?"

"I wasn't going to tell you this until we got back to the center," Parker smiled at her. "But I have your official badge at my office. They were actually happy to hear that you were working with us early."

"Really now?" Eleonora grinned.

"You're officially an agent with the BAU." Parker smiled at her student. "We'll get your records straight when we get to the center."

"I'm not going to worry about that right now. Let's worry about getting Joey." Parker nodded at her and they watched as Mike walked up to the door, and knocked. When there was no answer, he nodded at them, and SWAT joined him at the door, pushing it open. Ryan, Parker and Eleonora followed them inside, and they found that no one was in the house. The home looked normal, and lived in, but it was almost too normal. Nothing like Emma's house. There was no writing on the walls, no obvious Poe references. Elle found herself in the kitchen, and she heard rattling behind a closet door. She caught Ryan's attention before grabbing the door to open it.

A woman was behind the door, screaming, and had a knife in her hand, prepared to stab Eleonora, but she avoided the knife, as the other agents prepared their guns to shoot. Elle caught the hand with the knife, pushed the woman against the wall, holding her by the neck.

"Please don't hurt me." The woman begged under Eleonora's hand.

"We're not going to hurt you." Parker said, as they all still held their guns to the woman. "Who are you?"

"Maggie Kester, I live here."

"Do you know Rick Kester?" Ryan asked, furious as he stepped up to the women.

"Yes, I do, he's my husband." The woman explained, and Ryan nodded to Eleonora to let the woman go.

"Drop the knife." Eleonora told Maggie, and she dropped it to the ground, and once Weston picked the knife up, away from them, Elle let Maggie go. Ryan pulled Eleonora away from the scene, and stood on the porch.

"You can't go doing stupid things like that Eleonora." Ryan scolded her.

"Really?" Eleonora asked in disbelief. "Like you wouldn't have done the same thing," Ryan looked at her conflicted. "Ryan, I am an agent here. I know what I am doing. You don't have to worry about me."

"Of course I have to worry about you."

"Claire asked you to, didn't she?" Ryan looked at her sadly, but knew that he couldn't let her go doing more stupid actions, possibly getting herself killed. "Ryan, I am going to do my job, and if that means that I get hurt in the process, so be it. But it will be on my hands, not yours. I don't want to be a liability to you." Ryan thought about what she was saying, and sighed, realizing that she was partially right.

"You did do well." She looked back to him, confused, and he continued, "You handled this well."

"Thank you." Eleonora smiled at him, happy to hear his praise for her. They walked back into the house, and she thought it best to avoid being around Maggie. She did put her in a choke hold. She found herself in the living room, looking through books with Riley, hoping to find something in the literature.

"You did really well." He said to her, as they focused on the books. "Don't know many new agents that could handle a knife coming at them that fast."

"Well, I'd hate to say that there's experience behind it, but sometimes that experience could save your life." She said quietly, continuing to look at the books. Riley shot Weston a glance, knowing that he was still listening to the conversation, and Weston nodded. It was soon after, that the Crime Scene Unit arrived, and the agents were allowed to leave, and, Ryan found Eleonora in the upstairs rooms, still with Riley and Weston.

"Eleonora." He called her to the door, and they stepped out of the room. "Parker and I are going to take Maggie back to the detention center. You going to be okay going back with Riley and Weston?" Eleonora shrugged, not particularly caring. She was comfortable with the team, and she got along well with them. Ryan said goodbye to her, and she went back into the office area.

"You guys mind if I ride back with you?" They looked at her, and she continued. "They're bringing Maggie back, and I don't think they want me in an enclosed area with her. Might freak her out."

"Yeah, you're more than welcome to ride with us." Mike nodded with a smile, and they cleared out the computer room, before heading back to the detention center.

Together, they all found Maggie's legal and personal information, and built a file of it. Mike went to hand it to Ryan and continued to look for information on the Kester's friends.

"So you believe her?" Ryan asked Parker as they stepped out of the interview room with Maggie still inside.

"I do. I believe her." Parker said definitively. "I know her well."

"How so?" Ryan asked.

"She's sad and pathetic. She wants the man in her head, not the man she married. She's my mother, my sister, my other sister."

"Well, she's our closest thing to finding Rick, and we need Rick to find Joey." Eleonora made the argument. Ryan nodded agreeing with her, and sighed.

"Why don't you let me see Joe?" Ryan asked, hoping that he could get some more information.

"Let me try. I think it's time for me and Joe to meet anyway."

Riley, Ryan and Elle all watched the information through the monitors. Parker walked in, with a smile on her lips, and she sat down.

"It's nice to finally meet you." Joe looked at her suspicious. "I have to say, you are doing a GREAT job." Joe softened a bit. "I mean, how much planning has this taken? I mean, seriously, good job!"

"Thank you." He finally said. "For my book." She had given him a book the other day before he went to sleep, and he hadn't forgotten.

"You're welcome." She smiled kindly at him. "So, why torch critics?"

"Has someone been playing with matches?" Joe asked with a smile. "I'm not above revenge, agent, I think we've established that. After all, revenge is a primal theme; every good story needs one." He looked to the camera, "Don't you agree? Ryan?" And brought his attention back to Parker. "Of course, his theme, is somewhat different."

"So your accolades, come up with ways to make you proud, help you write your book."

"Everyone has a story to tell, agent"

"So you're little devotee, is gunna torch all your critics?"

"There are only three people that I really hold accountable for my professional downfall." Joe said, fighting the smile on his face, looking to the camera again. "Isn't that right? Ryan?" He looked back to Debra who was no longer smiling, then back to the camera. "I wonder who he holds accountable for his downfall." Ryan was watching the interview, and Eleonora could tell that he was not enjoying the conversation that was being held. "Must be very hard for you, to be surrounded by the stench of death again. I know this takes a terrible toll on you. You must be careful well, with that little heart of yours." Ryan walked away, leaving Riley and Elle to watch the end of the interview. "Speaking of fragile people, how is Eleonora doing?"

"She's doing well."

"Tell her, I'd like to see her again." Eleonora could feel the chills running up her back, and she walked away, finding Ryan in Debra's office. He and Debra were talking about the dean of literature.

"Do you think he's still the dean?"

"This was years ago," Ryan admitted.

"He's still there." Eleonora spoke up. "Claire emailed me about him a few weeks ago. Said that he was a jerk."

"Let's go." Ryan said. They gathered the team and headed to Windsor University. When they arrived, he was already dead. Eleonora and Parker all were looking through the crime scene, when Mike walked inside.

"The press is officially using the 'cult' word." He approached Parker who sighed in defeat. "Are we going to comment?"

"No, let them speculate. Where's Ryan?"

"He went outside."

"Well, shit." Elle sighed realizing that he was going to be overthinking outside. Parker walked out, and Mike looked to Elle.

"What's with him?"

"He's going to blame himself for this death. When it comes to Joe, he takes everything too personally." Eleonora explained to Mike.

"But it wasn't."

"Doesn't matter. He will blame himself because he didn't get here in time to save him. This also leaves Ryan as the final person who is responsible for Joe's professional downfall. That's gunna weigh on him like an elephant."

"You've known him a long time." Mike noted as he joined her looking through the professor's desk.

"That's an understatement." She smiled. "Even though Claire and Ryan haven't spoken in years, we have kept in contact every few months." She caught Mike's eyes and shrugged. "He's probably thinking about when he first met Joe. It was actually right on this campus."

"How do you feel being back here? Did you spend a lot of time here as a kid?"

"Spent more time in Claire's office than Joe's, and to be honest, it's not exactly the best memories to be thought of." Eleonora admitted. It wasn't until she stepped foot onto the campus that the majority of the murders took place on, that her memory began to jump. She was only fourteen when the murders began, and she spent so much time with her parents, in their offices, and in classes, that she was almost a fixture on the grounds. Eleonora was on her way to Claire's office when she was receiving glares from students, some whom she had known personally. When she arrived at the office, she found Claire crying hysterically. Joe was arrested for the murders, not long after had he admitted to it, and soon began the trial. Not only are the middle teen years among the hardest years people go through on their own, but Eleonora was cast out due to her father's crimes. She lost friends at school, became the target for bullies, no one except news reporters wanted to speak to her. When Claire decided to move, and take Eleonora with her, they had an in depth discussion as to whether or not to go through with the adoption.

_ Eleonora spent the last day crying in her room. She was sent home from school for fighting with another student, but to be fair, she was not the one to instigate the fight. The girl was again, picking on Eleonora for her father's crimes, and Eleonora was only trying to defend herself. Claire knocked on her door, and saw the girl wrapped in her blankets, trying to hide from her problems. Her crying had quieted to held back sobs, as Claire was now sure that Elle was aware of her approaching the bed. _

_ "Ellie?" _

_ "Number one," Eleonora sniffed her nose, and sat up, "Ellie is a dog's name." She pushed her long messy hair out of the way, but it still flew in opposite directions on her shoulders. Claire smiled softly at her, realizing that she would prefer the sound of a letter over a more childish nickname. "Number two, can I ask you a question?" _

_ "Of course sweetheart." Claire sat with her, and took in the sight of her eyes. It frightened Claire, not in a life threatening way, but in the way that a mother was scared for her child. Her usually green eyes were so vibrantly unnatural, that they almost resembled a false plant's leaf. The fact that her irises were surrounded by bloodshot pigments only made the color more frightening, and more emotionally driven. _

_ "Why am I still here?" Eleonora asked quietly bowing her head, and causing more hair into her face unintentionally. Claire pushed it out of her eyes, forcing her to look back at her. _

_ "Elle," She began softly with a smile. "You're here because I love you."_

_ "But you hate dad." _

_ "I'm scared of him." Claire admitted, hoping to clarify her feelings. "And, to be fair, I do kind of hate him a little bit." She weighed her thoughts, and when she saw that the attempt at a joke failed, as Elle took a deep breath, preparing for the worst, "Does NOT mean that I hate you." She moved so that she could grab the folder that she had put on her nightstand before she sat down. "I actually wanted to ask you a question." She showed the documents inside to her, and before Eleonora could read the documents, Claire moved to sit next to her. "I want to adopt you." _

_ "Why?" Eleonora whispered confused. _

_ "Because, to be honest, I've been thinking about it for a long time. Longer than this entire thing has been going on. I know I should have done it when Joe and I got married, but I was scared of motherhood, and I wasn't sure if I was ready. But I don't want you away from me. I don't think I can handle loosing you." It was true. Claire had been terrified of dating a man with a nearly teenage daughter, but as she grew, and as the romance blossomed, the more inseparable the pair became. Once the adults were married, Claire and Eleonora were more like replicas of each other. Even with Joe's arrest, all Claire could think about was Eleonora, and if she would be taken away from her. The thought of losing her made her mind and heart race at night. _

_ Eleonora could see the honesty behind Claire's eyes and dropped the papers to the bed, throwing her arms around Claire, and began to cry again. "You and Joey are the best things that have happened to me. And Elle," Claire made her look at her again, "I wouldn't trade you for the world." _

_ "Thank you." _

_ This was one of the only pleasant memories of that specific time frame. _

It was soon after that the agents returned to the detention center, and Eleonora had just received more of Maggie Kester's records, when she saw Mike talking to Ryan about how coffee was an equalizer.

"Ryan, you really should not be drinking, especially in here." Eleonora leaned over his side, so he was boxed in between the two agents.

"Yeah, well, I'm not. We were just talking hypothetically."

"Okay, Ryan." She rolled her eyes standing back up.

"Anyway, I've got Rick Kester's credit card records." He opened the folder, and they saw a long receipt from a toy store. "Um, Elle." He handed the paper over to her. "Do you recognize any of this?"

"These are some of Joey's toys." She said after reading over the list. "They bought him toys?" She asked in surprise; if anything that was the last thing that she would have expected from a cult of killers.

"I'm going to call Claire."

"I'll go talk to Maggie." Ryan nodded, leaving to call Claire with another confirmation and to let her know their findings. Mike however, gave her a warning look. "What?" She shrugged. "I think it's time we met anyway."

"She's just a woman Elle. You don't have to go hard on her."

"Who said I was going hard?" She asked him as they approached the door.

"Can I go now?" Maggie asked. "I've been here all day."

"Not yet." Elle said coming to face her. "Mrs. Kester, I am Agent Eleonora Matthews." Maggie looked at her with dried tears on her cheeks, and new ones forming in her eyes. She twisted the tissue in her hands as she watched the woman in front of her cross her arms, stressed, and exhausted. "Do you have any idea why your husband would buy toys?"

"I don't know." She shook her head, a fear in her eyes, Eleonora was sure she didn't notice before when she passed by the interview earlier. "It's his credit card, you'll have to ask him." Suddenly, her phone began to ring, and everyone's attention was brought to it. "It's Rick." She read.

"Answer it." Eleonora moved to lean against the desk. "Put it on speaker phone." She looked to Mike who she knew would go get the GPS of the phone as Ryan walked in.

"Rick is calling." Parker briefed him quickly and he prepared himself for the call as well. She answered it, with everyone concentrated on keeping their cool.

"Rick." She answered sternly.

"Where are you?" He asked almost robotically. It kind of seemed like he had something in his system, and he was not doing well.

"The FBI came to the house, Rick. What have you done?"

"Are you with them now?"

Ryan nodded at her to tell him the truth.

"Yes," she pushed her hair out of her face with stress, "Yes Rick, they're looking for you. You're in trouble." She could barely say the words. "How could you hurt those people?" Eleonora caught her attention and mouthed.

"Where is he?" To keep her on track.

"Where are you, Rick?" There was silence.

"Is Ryan Hardy or Eleonora Matthews there?" Maggie looked to them with a confused look. "Either way, tell Ryan it was all for him." The line was cut off, as Parker looked to both Hardy and Matthews. They decided to let Maggie have some time to decompress, and they exited the room, as Mike came back to them.

"It's being routed internationally, like the internet. We can't trace it." He sighed heavily.

"What do you think?" Riley asked Parker after weighing his thoughts. "Should we try to make contact?"

"I don't know." Parker admitted. "Take her home." She resolved. "Stay with her. I'll send someone to relieve you in the morning." Riley left to get Maggie prepared to go home.

"I'll go with him." Ryan volunteered.

"No, what you're going to do Vodka breath, is go back to that dumpy little motel the FBI dumped us in and get some rest." She ordered. Eleonora had to hold back a chuckle, loving the fact that Debra had the guts to call Ryan out on his shit.

"I feel totally fine." Ryan insisted.

"When was the last time you had more than an hours sleep?" Parker asked again. When she didn't get an answer, she kept her persistence. "You're going to go, get some rest, and tomorrow, we're going to find Joey. Do you understand?" Ryan looked pissed. "Look, I get it. You over identify with the victims, the guilt makes it personal, you unravel. I get it"

Elle couldn't identify with all the victims, but just knowing the source behind the murders made her guilty. Ryan walked away, feeling like he had his tail between his legs, but he had to follow orders, or so to make it seem. He left the other three, sharing awkward glances. Elle met Ryan at his desk as he put his jacket on, grabbing his bag.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, crossing her arms, hoping to get an honest answer out of him. One look said it all. He was disappointed. In himself, in his work effort of the day, in losing more people. No, he was not okay.

"You're not going back to the motel, are you?" Mike noted, joining the conversation.

"I think Rick Kester knows where Joey is."

"Well, they gave me a rental car." Mike suggested with a hopeful shrug. Ryan perked up to the possible help he'd be receiving, and Eleonora shrugged her shoulder.

"Or, we could use my car. No government GPS installed." She suggested, hoping that it would help conceal their expedition.

"Get your stuff." Ryan told her. "Blue Jeep?" He hoped to confirm what he thought he saw her get out of that morning.

"Blue Jeep." She confirmed, as he headed out to the car, hoping that the different departure times for the agents wouldn't strike suspicion. She and Weston made it out to the parking lot to find Ryan standing beside her car, keeping watch, hoping no one noticed.

They climbed into the Wrangler, and Ryan sat upfront, leaning his head against the window. It rattled as Eleonora shifted gears, and she looked at him with an apologetic look.

As they pulled up to the house that they raided earlier that morning, and parked down the block a bit, hoping to avoid nosy neighbors. Mike called Riley, who picked up quickly.

"Hardy, Elle and I are outside."

"What?" They all could hear Riley on the other line. "Does Parker know?"

They all shared an unsure look, before Mike took a deep breath. "Yeah." Ryan leaned back, bored already.

"Do you really think Kester would be stupid enough to come here?"

"He's already killed two people today. He's escalating." Elle had to agree. He was getting more violent as the day progresses, and there could be no telling what happens next. Mike soon ended his call, and Ryan looked back to him again.

"Does Parker really know where we are?"

"She told me to watch you." Mike admitted with difficulty.

"Me too, actually." Eleonora figured as long as they were being honest. Ryan rolled his eyes, figuring that this is how the FBI babysits now.

"Listen, I know that you march to your own drum, and everything, and hey, that's cool. But I'm the second youngest agent in the BAU and people still look at me funny." Ryan responded with a bored look. "This is my career sir."

They sat in silence for a while before Mike tried a more casual conversation from the back seat.

"Do you still live in Brooklyn?"

"Yeah."

"Make it up to Albany?" Ryan gave him a look. "Read your book. Know you grew up there."

"Not in years. No reason." Elle shook her head.

"Right," Mike tried to be respectful. "Family, sorry. Um, I'm a military brat." He tried again. "Born in San Diego."

"Really? Where bouts?" Eleonora responded, finding him in her mirror.

Ryan jumped out, "I'm gunna take a look around, stretch my legs." Mike looked a shot down as Ryan walked away, closing the door. Eleonora, who was shocked at Ryan's rudeness, tried to push it back, patting the front seat next to her.

"Come join me, Weston." She said happily, hoping to relieve some of the tension. He got out of the back seat, and sat up front. "I'm sorry about him. You're right when you say he marches to a beat of his own drum, but sometimes, that drum is his inability to realize how rude his is."

Mike nodded, accepting her apology, and she smiled at him. She had to admit, he was handsome. Always a fan of beards of all length, a sandy blond haired man, with adequate scruff and piercing blue eyes, crossed her radar every once in a while, but this time, she could actually get to know the man without it being on a date.

"So, San Diego."

"Yeah, Orange County actually. But I've lived all over the place."

"Do tell."

Mike Weston, as Elle could tell, liked to talk when he was nervous, or bored. Elle wasn't sure which of the emotions applied to the current situation. He was born in San Diego, lived in Texas, Alabama, Georgia and even spent some time in Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. He has three brothers, but only enjoys the company of one, and he has a small dog.

"Probably shouldn't have mentioned the dog." He muttered to himself, realizing that Eleonora's Cyclops was murdered last night.

"It's okay." She sighed. "I mean, its heart breaking, but if he was the only one that was killed in Jordy's attack at the house, it's something I could live with. If anyone else had did, I'm not sure I'd feel the same way." She looked to him, and found him staring at her again. "But your terrier mix, it's the one with the Dumbo like ears, right?"

"Yeah, he's a little weirdo." He laughed pulling out his phone, initially to show her a picture, but they heard gunshot like noises come from outside the house. He called Riley.

"Hey, you okay?" Mike asked.

"There's someone in the back yard." Riley admitted, but Eleonora was surprised he sounded so calm.

"Alright, we're coming in." He got out of the car, and Eleonora followed, locking the Jeep behind her. They found Ryan about a block up, just as Elle's phone rang. It was Parker.

"Hey." She answered.

"Elle, Jordy just told me that Maggie Kester is one of them. She's lying."

Mike and Ryan looked at her, and it was clear, Eleonora was shocked. "Maggie is one of them." Without hesitation, they took off running to the house, knocking the door down, and rushing into the house again.

They found Riley on the floor, blood around his neck, "Get an ambulance." Ryan ordered Mike, and Eleonora grabbed a towel to hold over his neck. There was so much blood, and Mike was in shock as he was trying to order the ambulance to their location, but Ryan heard a noise out the back door.

"Put pressure on this." Elle told Mike, and he nodded, kneeling next to his friend, trying to reassure him that he was going to be okay. Ryan took Mike's gun, and Elle followed him out.

"STOP!" Ryan yelled at Maggie who was trying to cross the lawn.

"No, PLESASE!" She begged, "He's trying to hurt me." She was a good actress, almost convincing, but Ryan and Elle saw her divert her eyes from Ryan, and they turned, seeing Rick come closer with a shovel in his hands. Eleonora shot him first, and they heard Maggie scream in protest as he fell to the ground.

Both Ryan and Elle turned back to Maggie, but Ryan was jumped on, and Rick was still fighting. Elle tried to rip him off of Ryan, but Ryan fought his way out of the grip, and shot Rick down once more. Elle was splattered with the ricocheting blood, and Rick fell limp in her arms. Ryan was in shock as he saw Eleonora's eyes focus behind him.

"Shit!" She shouted, and Ryan noticed that Maggie was gone. Probably ran in the beginning of the tussle, but as Ryan continued thinking of how he had just killed Rick, Eleonora dropped him, running back inside to help Mike.

She came inside to see Mike sitting beside Riley, who had passed away. Ryan was right behind her, as they saw Mike exhale, trying to hold back his emotion. Ryan put his gun down, frustrated, and Eleonora turned to him quickly. "You okay?" She asked. Ryan nodded, knowing that Mike needed more help than he had, and he was not the one capable of giving the young agent that help. Eleonora crossed the walkway to Mike, and knelt next to him.

"Come on." She said softly to him, as she wrapped her arm around his torso, helping to pick him up onto his feet. He was numb, covered in blood, and shaking. Eleonora could hear Ryan talking on a cell phone to a dispatcher, as she pushed Mike to the kitchen sink.

She ran the water, and let it warm, making sure he was stable on his feet before she began to look for soap. She found Dawn dish liquid in a cupboard, and hurried back to him. He was staring at the running water, not even thinking to put his hands under it.

"Mike?" She asked quietly, hoping that he could still at least hear her. He looked to her, but just as he stared at the water, he stared at her, and she nodded, understanding. Sometimes it was just easier to not think. She took his hand, and began to rinse the blood off for him. When one hand was clean, he held onto the sink as she cleaned the other hand, and finally, reinforcements arrived. Eleonora could see the look in Mike's eyes that read like he'd rather be anywhere but in this moment.

"Elle?" He finally asked as she dried his hands with a towel.

"Yeah?"

"Did you get her?"

She wanted to tell him a lie. That they got both Maggie and Rick, that Maggie was in custody, and Rick was dead, but she couldn't do that to him. She shook her head, avoiding his eyes. "No, we didn't." She sighed heavily, and Mike felt her breath against his forearms. "Rick Kester is dead, and Maggie got away while Ryan, Rick and I were fighting." It was then that Mike noticed the blood that covered Eleonora.

"Are you okay?" He asked holding onto her arms, looking for injuries. She shook her head.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She said quietly. Parker came over with another detective who took Mike to get his statement, and Parker took Eleonora to another.

"Elle," Parker started.

"I'm sorry." Eleonora bowed her head. "I know I must have disappointed you."

"No. That's not what I'm getting at." Parker stated as they exited the house. "I wanted to ask you how you're doing."

"I'm okay." She nodded, trying to hold back the emotion of the day. Not only had she aided in the killing of a man, but one of her team mates was now dead.

"You did well. We will need your statement."

Eleonora spent another hour giving her statement to a detective, who gave her an indication that it would be ruled a 'clean shooting', a shooting that warranted the death of an assailant. Once clear, she was given directions to bring Weston back to the motel, before returning home herself.

The ride back was quiet, but once they pulled into a parking spot, Eleonora looked to Mike, who now had a few stray tears running into his beard.

"You gunna be okay?" She asked quietly. "We could go get a milkshake or something, if you don't want to be a lone." It at least broke a small smile on his face.

"No, I'll be fine. We need to get some sleep." He looked over to her, and she smiled kindly at him. "Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime." She nodded. He reached for the handle, but before he could get out, Eleonora grabbed his hand. "Mike," He stopped and looked back to her. "If you need anything, just call. I'm only ten minutes away."

He nodded, squeezing her hand. "Thank you Elle." He squeezed it one last moment before they retracted their hands, and he left the car.

She waited until he was safely in the building, a habit that she picked up from dropping Joey off at school, before she made it back to her house. Claire was already asleep, thank god. Elle wasn't sure if she would be able to take the one million questions about the day and how close they were to finding Joey. But she was definitely not able to face telling Claire that they had no idea where Joey was, and their only suspect got away.

Elle stumbled into her bedroom, thankful that someone had cleaned up the closet during the day, and changed into her pajamas. It wasn't long until sleep found her.

It was early in the morning when she woke, still with a splitting headache, and her body sore. She heard the stairs creek as someone ascended them, and she opened the door to see Ryan heading towards Claire's room. He was still dressed in the same suit from yesterday.

"Ryan?" She asked and followed him into Claire's room.

"Ryan. Elle!" Claire hugged Eleonora, grateful that she was okay.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asked, and the women released each other, and Claire handed Ryan the laptop.

It was a video of Jacob telling Joey how to kill a mouse, with a jar, and a magnifying glass. Joey had no desire to kill the mouse, and wanted to keep it instead. The thought of the mouse suffocating terrified, him, but once he had the cap on, he commented,

"I've never killed anything before."

"It's okay buddy." Jacob smiled. "We're only getting started." Eleonora felt her heart drop as Claire dropped more tears.

"Hey Joey, can you say 'Hi Ryan'?" They heard Denise – Emma, from behind the camera.

"Who's that?" Joey asked, still holding the jar.

"A friend." Emma said simply.

"Hi Ryan." Joey smiled with a waive, before the camera cut off.

"They're teaching him to kill." Claire said standing from the bed.

"We're going to find him, Claire."

"I want him home, Ryan!" Claire demanded.

Claire went to look through her window, leaving Ryan and Eleonora to share a knowing look that they needed to find Joey, today.

**Please read and review, enjoy! **


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